Category Archives: Retrospect

Around Here

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Around here, my bathroom remodel is starting to near a conclusion. My cousin, who is doing the work, has done an amazing job and I’m getting excited to see the finished product. I’ll show you some pictures when it’s all done but the above picture is a sneak peek. I am especially fond of these vintage style faucets.

Around here, like the faucets, the weather has been hot and cold. I think we’ve had all four seasons this week and certainly in the last month. Daytime highs that swing from the nineties in April to forties in May, scorching sun, and torrential rain make for a bizarre transition into the new season.

The good news is that there’s some variety in the weather around here in spring and literally something for us all.

Around here, I’m looking at other projects that need attention around the house and trying to prioritize what needs done over the next few years versus what might be small enough to tackle now.

Around here, Scout seems to be back to his old rambunctious ways after a scary few days of illness. It’s hard when they can’t tell you what’s wrong or that there’s even a problem. Today he will stay busy overseeing the bathroom work and should sleep well tonight.

That means I’ll sleep well tonight too.

Around here, things are kind of messy. When an entire room is messy and things are piled up elsewhere because of it, it’s easy to let stuff go. It’s the broken window effect. I look forward to getting it all in order and plan to work on that today.

Around here, it’s Memorial Day weekend, a holiday meant to honor those who died in service to our country. That message is often lost as we also use it to remember all our dead and to get good deals at the big box stores. I hope you’ll take a moment to consider those who died in service to our country. Since the Revolutionary War, Americans have been dying for the ideals set forth by our forefathers and continue to serve and die honorably in the name of the United Stares of America today.

They deserve more than we can give them.

And while you’re at it, the American Legion says that more than 80,000 Americans remain missing in action. One of them, a 20 year old World War II soldier, was located and brought home to southern Ohio this weekend for burial.

Think what that must do to a family to live so long without answers.

Around here, we recognize that hot and cold is a force of nature. We know that planning and work are how we accomplish what needs done. We honor the significance of what lost and found means for people we will never meet but who deserve our gratitude.

Friends, wherever you are this holiday weekend, be safe and well.

Sitting Still

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Doesn’t this look like a nice spot to sit and read a book or just watch the clouds roll by? My pal and I spotted it on our way out of the National Museum of the Coverlet and we agreed that it looked peaceful.

And yet, it never occurred to me that we could stop to sit there.

Sitting idle is difficult for me. I often admire those people in cafes who are peacefully reading a book or the folks who are just sitting on a park bench as though there’s no place they would rather be.

There’s just so much to see and do in this world, I want to go see it all. And yet, I want to be a person who sits on benches too.

Author Richard Kadrey famously said “Being able to embrace contradictions is a sign of intelligence. Or insanity.”

Maybe we shouldn’t discuss how his theory applies to me!

Do you stop to smell the roses and sit on benches or do you prefer to be on the go?

May 4, 1970

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On May 4, 1970 four Kent State students were killed and nine wounded when the Ohio National Guard opened fire into a peaceful anti- war protest.

One of those wounded died in 2020. His name was Alan Canfora and we happened upon his grave at Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland last year. I knew he was one of the injured because engraved in the top of that black granite stone is a photo from the protest. I later learned that the photo on his headstone is actually of him during the protest.

I also learned that he had dedicated his life to activism and to telling the story of that day.

Throughout Canfora’s lifetime he amassed the largest personal collection of photos, court records, audio recordings, personal correspondence, protest materials and other items related to this tragedy.

Following his death at age 71, his family donated that collection to Kent State. This link will take you to a good story that quotes his sister about his efforts to not allow the truth to be forgotten or rewritten. I thought about quoting it here but would prefer you take a minute to read the story.

If you aren’t familiar with what went on at Kent State at the time, you should read up on it. No one should die or be wounded for peacefully protesting in this country but I am impressed that he used his experience as a catalyst to better the world.

Indecision

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Last night I stood in the middle of the living room, holding a precarious stack of books and despairing over what to read next.

I was paralyzed with indecision.

Have you ever struggled in this way when faced with too many choices?

I consistently struggle in three main areas:

  1. Books
  2. Getting rid of things that I might need someday
  3. Choosing a travel destination

When it comes to books, there literally are too many interesting books being released every year on top of all the things written in the past to ever feel like there’s enough time.

Issues with letting go of things seem to be genetic and related to my Appalachian roots where holding on to stuff has been an economic decision. My ancestors knew the value of a dollar, of a thing, and of having a stash of stuff for when you need it. Packrattery is a survival mechanism.

And travel decisions are hard because, like books, there are finite resources (time + money) and an infinite amount of places to go. How do we begin to choose?

These areas have felt like an uphill battle for some time now.

When it comes to travel, I typically take longer trips with adventure pals and shorter trips with my fella. Life circumstances for my adventure pals have made it harder for them to go on those longer journeys. And honestly, I’ve just been lazy about getting some shorter trips on the calendar. I used to have adventure ideas in my back pocket every week. I need to get back to those roots but am often torn by the multitude of places to visit and other life things to do.

But I digress.

Back to that stack of books last night,

I am not an especially fast reader but I am a devoted one. I watch little tv and carry a book nearly everywhere including to the dentist’s office yesterday. Most nights I fall asleep with a book in my hands and wake up to the thunk of it falling on me.

How my face isn’t black and blue is beyond me.

When I finish a book, I pick up another, switching genres to keep things interesting and prevent any ruts from forming.

I like the feel of a physical book in my hands and the smell of a book is one of my very favorite things. If you ever see me smelling a book, keep moving. There’s nothing to see here.

I did finally choose something and I have high hopes for it. All the same, I had reservations when walking away from that stack I had pulled. By itself, that stack represents about a month of reading. We are already about a third of the way through the year. When will I get to them and all the others?

Clearly, there needs to be more reading hours in my day along with more time to travel. And perhaps some time for therapy because I do sound like something of a basket case.

This I know.

We are the culmination of our habits. If we want to do more of something we need to prioritize it and build our habits around that thing.

What do you wish to do more of? Does indecision ever interfere? Please tell me not the only one!

Walk In And Be

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Sometimes you just need a quiet place to sit and think. This spot was cool, quiet and calming and exactly what I needed to get a few things done.

People tend to undervalue libraries. In addition to all the amazing reading materials, classes, and items for free use, a library is one of few places in this world where you can simply exist.

There’s no admission to be paid and no expectation that you buy or do anything in exchange for use of computers or other resources.

You can just walk in and be.

That’s pretty cool, if you ask me.

Around Here April Edition

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Around here things are starting to settle down after a few months of not feeling settled at all. It’s part of my annual life cycle but one I’m never completely prepared to face. To add insult to injury, a volunteer commitment turned busy, stressful, and strangely enlightening for a few months.

Things are better now.

Around here, Spring has sprung. My lilacs are blooming and the landscape is greening up. At the moment, it’s breezy and 54 degrees with a gorgeous blue sky.

Around here I’m slowly catching up on chores that were ignored in favor of restful things during busy times. In fact, it has been a good season for reading and for that I’m grateful. I have made decent progress working through my TBR piles.

It is time, though, to get some stuff done. So far I have meandered from one thing to another but probably need to make a list and stick to it.

Things here will be in turmoil for a while, though, because I’m having some work done in my master bath. I don’t mind because the results will be so nice. Eventually.

Around here I’m trying to figure out some adventures close to home and to maybe expand my horizons some. I need to drive new roads and see new things .

Around here, I’m retooling my eating once again, this time embracing an anti inflammatory way of living and trying to figure out what that can look like in my daily living. Good nutrition can relieve pain and other issues but the American diet is not centered on things meant to soothe and nourish our bodies.

I need to do some more research before my next grocery trip.

Around here, things are improving. The above picture is my current view. Scout is asleep in the sunshine, just a few feet outside the frame and it’s not such a bad view.

Around here, I remind myself that as the sun rises and sets every day, we too are given the opportunity to start again every day.

How will you start again today, tomorrow, and all the days after that?